Florida Georgia Line, together with the Backstreet Boys* and Nelly, is coming to Wrigley Field on August 12, which means The Friendly Confines will be home to a whopping 10 concerts this season. That’s a significant boon to Cubs-related revenues, and figures to generate substantial funds that will eventually trickle their way into baseball operations, to the extent necessary.
The added concerts do come with a potential downside, thanks to the 2013 night game ordinance, which allows the Cubs to schedule up to 35 night games OR night events per season, plus four major concerts inside the park that don’t count towards that total (and eight additional night games that don’t count towards that total if they are requested by MLB for national broadcasts).
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With the 10th concert added to the schedule, Danny Ecker points out that the Cubs can no longer add another night game this season, even if a separate night game is rained out and rescheduled:
Cubs now at Wrigley concert max. So rain-outs rescheduled as night games would cost them night games next year. https://t.co/Eke6SxVAuH
— Danny Ecker (@DannyEcker) March 7, 2017
Hopefully, then, the weather will be kind in the evenings. In terms of revenue, though, a rainout would cost the Cubs only the difference in value between a night game and a later-rescheduled day game, which is not necessarily substantial, even if mildly inconvenient for fans. Given a previous estimate that each concert nets the Cubs upwards of $1 million, you can see why the Cubs would be willing to roll the dice.
If it feels like concerts at Wrigley Field have exploded in recent years, that’s because they have:
The Cubs have gone from 3 Wrigley Field concerts 3 years ago to 10 this year. https://t.co/MoVtxVA2Rp pic.twitter.com/qRlIaofY8l
— Danny Ecker (@DannyEcker) March 7, 2017
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Wrigley is often held up as one of the best stadium concert venues in the country, so good on the Cubs for taking advantage of an asset that people love, and that would otherwise lay fallow most days of the year.
*(I will never not jump up and sing ‘I Want It That Way’ if I hear it come on. Doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing. It’s a lock. Come at me.)
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